Ouya Android Gaming Console Coming in June for $99

By Sherri L. Smith, Senior Staff Writer | Feb 5, 2013 11:36 AM EDT

Ouya, the Android-based home gaming console, is coming to stores in June. Nearly a year after it originally appeared on Kickstarter, the $99 console will be on sale in big-box retails stores such as Best Buy and Target in addition to GameStop and Amazon.com. Pre-orders have also opened, so eager gamers can reserve their console.

Gamers that jumped on the Kickstarter bandwagon won’t have to wait as long. According to CNET, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman has announced that Kickstarter backers can expect to receive their consoles sometime in March. Those that can’t wait until June can order from Ouya’s website for an April release.

The console will be outfitted with an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and will run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It will also have HDMI, Ethernet and a single USB 2.o port. Developers have been busy creating titles for the new system and it has a confirmed list of 24 titles including Square Enix’s “Final Fantasy III” and Cliffhanger Studios’ “Shadowrun Online.”

When Ouya ships, it will include one controller. Additional controllers are going for the steep price of $49.99. Why so much? According to Uhrman, the controller will feature a touchpad, which makes it a “premium” product.

” Additional controllers are going for the incredibly steep price of $49.99″

Since when has $50 been ‘incredibly steep’ for a controller? PS3 controllers still retail for $55. Same for Xbox 360 controllers. If anything, $50 is a pretty good deal considering it’s got a touchpad built in.